The California Historical Society boasts a rich trove of maps of the Golden State, the oldest from the 1600s, articulating a story of statehood through the distinctly problematic prisms of environmental turbulence, gentrification, and tourism in their current exhibition, Mapping California: Selections from the 17th to the 20th Century.
Expect some maps of a nascent Downtown L.A. and Hollywood; “baby pictures” of the metropolis on this romp down memory lane. And for you mining nuts out there, don’t you fear! Geological surveys are there, tucked in among the old flaps of maps.
Photographs and other material accompany the cartography to bring additional dimensionality to the experience; one certain pièce de résistance of the exhibition is Mapping YOUR California, an interactive element to ignite the sparks of future cartographers.
Mapping California runs through March 11, 2023 at the California Historical Society, located at 678 Mission St..